'Trumpet Tango' Triumphs!
- 4 days ago
- 7 min read
We are thrilled to announce the results of our 8th Organ Music composition competition, themed 'Tubes and Pipes for Organ'. We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who participated. Your support and interest in our music and projects mean the world to us! We continue to run our competitions to discover new music and new composers that would not ordinarily be heard or published and this year we were spoilt rotten all round - the quality of submissions was outstanding and we had a bumper crop to choose from this year.
Our deserved winners include some who are already part of our catalogue and have featured in previous winners' anthologies, and we are also thrilled to introduce two new composers to our catalogue! We hope you will join us in congratulating them all and agree that the winning pieces fit perfectly with the theme - see below where you can take advantage of our pre-release offer of the printed copy of the Anthology or download your copy now!
Meet Our Grand Prize Winner!
This year’s outright winner, whose piece will feature first in our winners' anthology, and is the recipient of our winner's cash prize, together with a pair of fantastic headphones, sponsored by our wonderful and generous partners, Aspire Classical Organs, is:
'Trumpet Tango' by Phil Lehenbauer
Phil has featured several times in our winners' anthologies (this will be his third publication with Tim Knight Music), but has never been our outright winner ... until now!! Here is a little bit about him:.
Phil was a school band director in Ohio for 30 years. As his father was a minister, he also became a church organist in Ohio and Florida, first writing organ works for his father's retirement services in 1992. Most of his compositions are based on hymn tunes for use in church services, though he has also written a number of pieces for young trombonists and organ, since his mom was always pleading with him to “play at church” while growing up as a trombonist. He is thrilled to have works performed in over 60 countries around the world! All of his compositions can be heard on YouTube at “OrganGuyPhil”.
Phil's composition received a very enthusiastic evaluation, being judged as ... "Immediately appealing. So jaunty, original and with great harmonies. Very joyful piece!"
A few words from our Winning Composer, Phil Lehenbauer
"I am thrilled that "Trumpet Tango" has been selected as the first piece in this new collection! This will be my third work in the Tim Knight catalogue, and I couldn't be happier! I hope you will enjoy playing all of the new trumpet tunes in this volume! When Tim Knight first announced this trumpet tune contest, my brain immediately went to mariachi bands and that Timmy Trumpet tune “Narco” played at futbol matches, college football games, and almost every sporting event nowadays. I've tried to create a little of this Spanish and Mexican feel throughout “Trumpet Tango”, and hopefully the 5/4 meter inspires a lively rhythmic mood and provides a piece that is unlike the usual trumpet tune! I hope you enjoy playing it, and maybe follow it up with a margarita (after you leave church, obviously)!"
A few words from our Sponsors, Aspire Classical Organs
"As proud sponsors and supporters of the great work at Tim Knight Music, we have donated the prize money and a bonus prize of a pair of headphones for the competition this year. We congratulate this year’s winner, Phil Lehenbauer!
Your prize and the Viscount Headphones will be with you shortly!"
Listen to the Winning Composition
Here is a recording of the winning composition, played by the composer himself:
Congratulations to our other winners:
We also celebrate the five other winning entries that will be published alongside 'Trumpet Tango' in the anthology. They are as follows (in no particular order):
'Trumpet Rondeau in C' by David Lasky
We are excited to welcome David to our catalogue! In his own words, "Music has been my life's vocation, both as an organist and composer." David has been Organist and Director of Music at St Cecilia Roman Catholic Church in Leominster, Massachusetts since 1981. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music History and Literature and a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance, both from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and a Master of Arts degree in Church Music and Liturgy from St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana. For the past 45 years, he has been writing sacred organ and choral music and has a substantial catalogue of music in print with nine American publishers. David's piece was his first entry into the Tim Knight Competitions and in his own words: "This piece, as the title declares, is in a "Rondeau" form, with a lively main theme in the Mixolydian mode that is contrasted with various short, episodic thematic areas in differing modes or keys. As the playing directions state, the piece is "festive" and "celebratory" in spirit and should make a fun postlude or wedding recessional".
You can listen to this recording of David's piece on YouTube by esteemed Organist, Carson Cooman
'Processional' by Giles Taylor
Giles already features in our catalogue with his very popular compositions, 'Carillon for Organ', 'Prelude and Contemplation' and 'Prelude on 'Hereford"' so it is great to add 'Processional' to our list of his publications. Giles was as excited as we were at the results, stating: "I am delighted that my composition has been chosen as one of the winning entries!".
Giles is Organist and Director of Music at St Mary’s Church, Whitkirk, West Yorkshire, UK. In March 2026 he celebrated 25 years in this role. For a decade, he was also Organist of the Whitkirk Deanery Choir and played the organ at Choral Evensong at Ripon Cathedral on the ten occasions when the deanery choir sang evensong there. Giles' piece was adjudged to be ... "stately and dignified and not over-complicated". He himself says about his piece: "My inspiration when composing this piece of music was to create a melody line and an accompaniment that was stately and ceremonial in style. This composition would work well as an opening or a closing piece of music at a ceremony or church service. It could also be used as a recital piece. Although ‘Processional’ is a trumpet tune, I wanted it to be a piece that is flexible so that it is still enjoyable to play and to listen to when other stop combinations are used. This means that this piece can work very well too on an instrument that does not have a solo trumpet stop."
We will be sharing a recording of Giles' piece soon.
'Majestic March' by Leigh Harrison
We are delighted to have Leigh amongst our winners once again, having featured in our 2nd winners' anthology, 'Organ Music for Joyful Moments'. He was equally as thrilled, saying: "I am delighted and very grateful to have another piece selected for publication." Leigh wrote 'Majestic March' for this competition and it was hailed as another "not too complex and more approachable for less experienced players", and so it is a very worthy second win for him.
Leigh writes about his piece: "I wanted this piece to be both enjoyable and practical. To make the piece work on most organs, I tried to avoid registration changes where I could and there is only one contrasting section, between bar 25 to 36 that is marked as quieter. If necessary, this change can be omitted."
Leigh originates from Lancashire and has composed music for almost all his life and first studied composition with John Howard in Durham. Whilst at Leeds University, he studied with James Brown and Philip Wilby where he obtained his 1st Class Honours degree in Music and was chosen by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies to attend his international composition master class at the Dartington Summer School. Leigh then studied with Edward Cowie at Lancaster University where he obtained his Ph.D. in composition. Leigh now lives in Kielder, Northumberland.
We will be sharing a recording of Leigh's piece soon.
'Trumpet Tune on SIMPLE GIFTS' by Josh Ring
We are delighted to welcome to our catalogue our second new composer, Josh Ring! It was Josh's first entry into one of our competitions and we are so glad he made it! Here is a little bit about him:
Dr. Josh Ring is a professor of organ and music composition at Olivet Nazarene University. He also serves in the music ministry at First Presbyterian Church of River Forest. More information can be found at www.JoshRing.com.
Josh's piece was adjudged as a winner ... "for it's clever interweaving of the well-known tune without being too blatant about it". Josh himself says: "Thank you so much to Tim Knight Music for hosting this competition! I’m honoured to be included in this wonderful anthology! I have always enjoyed the energy and playfulness of the tune Simple Gifts. I was also inspired by a setting of Now Thank We All Our God by Paul Manz, especially the sequential harmonic progression of the interludes. My goal was to capture the joyfulness of Simple Gifts combined with the beautiful simplicity inspired by Paul Manz. I also danced around with the melody and included variations of it in the middle minor section as well. I hope you enjoy!"
We will be sharing a recording of Josh's piece soon!
'Syncopated Trumpets' by Derry Bertenshaw
Derry writes: "I'm delighted my composition has been chosen as one of the winners. I hope organists will enjoy playing my fun, jazzy piece Syncopated Trumpets." - which is pretty much how his piece was adjudged! Derry is also a former winner, with his piece 'Processional Fanfare' featuring in our 3rd competition: 'Organ Music for Solemn Occasions' and so it is wonderful to have another composition from him!
Derry says about his piece: "I composed 'Syncopated Trumpets' for this competition. It is a fun, jazzy 'take' on the trumpet voluntary. It opens with a jaunty tune on the solo reeds, supported by a syncopated accompaniment. There follows a contrasting chorale-like section interspersed with trumpet fanfares. The main tune returns, first on the trumpet, then on the full organ leading to a fortissimo ending with the accompaniment taking centre stage."
Dr Derry Bertenshaw is a native of Shrewsbury, Shropshire. He is a winner of several international composing competitions including in 2019 the prestigious St Paul's Cathedral, London, Composition Competition. He has also received a number of premières in the capital during the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. He is Organist & Choirmaster of St Giles' Church, Shrewsbury.
We will be sharing a recording of Derry's piece soon!
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Explore Previous Winners’ Works
You can browse through our previous winners' anthology booklets via these links:
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